Paul Scholes vs Steven Gerrard vs Frank Lampard: 19 footballers who answered the debate | OneFootball

• Former footballers and teammates have weighed in on the debate between Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard, and Frank Lampard.
• Cesc Fabregas, Bruno Fernandes, Michael Owen, Toni Kroos, Kaka, and others have all shared their opinions.
• Steven Gerrard received the most votes as the best player, followed by Paul Scholes and then Frank Lampard

"If I have to say one - and I really enjoyed playing against - I would say Steven Gerrard,” Fabregas told BBC's Match of the Day’s podcast. "He was physically the most difficult opponent to handle. He was the box-to-box player, he could be on his right or left, shooting from the outside of his boot. He was a machine."

"I think Scholes was one of the best midfielders in the world,” he told Sky Sports. “For England, a lot of people talk about Frank Lampard because he scored a lot of goals of course, one of the best in England too, you have Steven Gerrard too, but I think Scholes is the one who makes more difference than anyone else. And before everyone starts talking about this, I haven't seen every midfielder in England, ok?! But I think in the last generation, those three were the three best ones, and for me Scholes was best."

"Stevie's on a different level than anything I've seen or played with and as you've said, I'm not blowing smoke up my a***, I've played with some great Man United players, Liverpool players, Real Madrid, England,” he told Jamie Carragher’s The Greatest Game podcast. "Put it this way. If I'm saying tomorrow rewind the clock, you're going into battle now, you're playing in the Champions League final, who's your first pick? I'd have Steven Gerrard as my first pick out of anyone."

"I like Gerrard," he told SPORTbible. "Because we had this challenge between ourselves in 2005 and 2007, I really admire him. Of course, Lampard was pretty amazing, Scholes the classic. But I'll have Gerrard."

"He was just ahead in his head," Henry commented. "He made Manchester United tick. Every time we were playing them we needed to find a way to stop him. It's true. I think Stevie G comes really close to him. But Paul Scholes would have to win."

"I played with and against so many fantastic players in midfield like Gerrard," he was quoted saying by Bleacher Report in 2016. "I had the opportunity to play with Lampard together at Chelsea. I think, because he was a different type of player to all other types of English midfielder, Paul Scholes was the best player that I saw playing for an English midfield and one of the best players in the world."

“The best player I ever played with is Paul Scholes,” Dyer told Soccer AM. “The [debate] has always been who’s better: Scholes, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard. In my humble opinion, Scholes was the best. People who played with him and against him know that he was so special and unique. He could do everything except the tackle!”

"All respect to Frank [Lampard], to Steven [Gerrard] but Paul Scholes is my favourite one," the 52-year-old claimed. "I love it. I think he had everything but the other two, come on, Frank and Steven Gerrard changed this... Paul Scholes is my favourite."

"For me he [Gerrard] can do everything and that's the reason I'd say he was the best of the three if I had to split them ahead of Scholes and Lampard in that order," he told the Daily Mail in 2013. "They are all top professionals and each brought different attributes and strengths but Gerrard can tackle, defend, score goals, head it, make a telling precision pass, dictate the tempo and is a powerful runner. He has a bit more to his game."

“I’m going to go for Steven Gerrard. I know he didn’t win the league as a Liverpool player, but I think he was probably the best single player of his era over a 20-year span,” Sheringham told the Professional Footballers’ Association. I know the Man United boys won’t be happy with that, but I just felt that he could do everything. He could run, he could tackle, he could score goals, he could head the ball, he could defend. He could do everything. You could put him in any position on the football pitch, and he would be the man.”

The former Man Utd captain said: “They’re three completely different players but all I will say is that Paul Scholes is the best player I ever played with.”

“I’d go Gerrard, Lampard, Scholes. I put Stevie top because of his big-game influence - Istanbul, Cardiff, cup final. Lampard next for the same [reason]. I’d just put them slightly ahead of Scholes.”

"Me personally, I would say Gerrard," the winger told Sky Sports. "That's my opinion, just the way he plays, controls the game, technique, the way he strikes the ball. I remember training with England, and he hit the ball with such power, and no run-up. I'd have to run from the halfway line to smash that as hard as he's hit that".

"I played against Scholes, Keane, Vieira, Makelele, Lampard - some of the best we've seen in the Premier League - but for me, Steven Gerrard stood out," the Welshman said in 2016. He could pass it 50, 60 yards and you couldn't get close to him. He could tackle you, take free-kicks, he could whip balls in, he could score goals - as a midfield player, he was a nightmare. For me, he goes down as the greatest ever Liverpool player."

Speaking to Rio Ferdinand’s on his YouTube channel, FIVE, Cole said: “I’d say the most complete is Stevie because he could do everything. You have to put some context on the question. If I’m managing a mid-table team and I get to have any of those players at the age of 21, I’m taking Stevie… because you know that even when things are going wrong, he can drag you out."

“He’s the best I’ve played with and against,” Rooney told the Keys and Gray show. “He’s only small but it’s so difficult to get the ball off him. Every United fan will miss him.”

“Trust me when I say you only realise how good a player is when you play against them,” he said. “All 3 were top top players in their own right but all round player. Stevie G was the complete footballer.”

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